I recently bought a couple "True Brew" extract kits for an English IPA. The kit only comes with 2oz of hops (1oz of Pilgrim, and 1oz of First Gold) which I plan on adding a few into it for the boil as well as dry hopping.

I picked up an additional oz. of Cascade, and an ounce of Chinook. The Chinook smells like it will be great for dry hopping, but as I am still unfamiliar with hops (somewhat new to homebrewing, and completely new to the world of IPAs) do you have any suggestions on what I should add to the boil, dry hopping, etc.?

The Chinook and Cascade are more appropriate for an American style IPA. Do you want to make an English Style or American Style, or just some hybrid IPA that might be tasty?

Chinook bittering and Cascade finishing is a classic American IPA approach. Chinook gives an edgy bitterness that can be nice in an IPA and can accentuate citrus flavors. I also think that Chinook as a flavoring or aroma hop can be fantastic.

A lot of modern English IPAs use traditional English hops for the bittering and flavor additions and the add something like Cascade or Chinook at flameout or as a dry hop. This makes a beer that has the British hop flavor, but with a citrus/floral aroma and a subtle citrus flavor that is similar to American IPAs.

I don't really know that I have a preference between English and American IPA. I realize that the hops included in the kit are shooting for an English, but a "hybrid IPA" sounds fun.

I do have two of these kits though, so perhaps I should use one with only English hops (as I can pull the hops from the other kit as well), and then use American hops on the second kit so that I can learn the distinction between the two. Yeah, think that's what I'll do. ':?' Although I might end up just making a blend, I don't know.

In the case that I do decide to just do an E.IPA, should I add additional varieties of hops for making it an E.IPA, or should I just stick with some combination of doubling the pilgrim and first gold?

I wouldn't just double the hops, the beer would probably just get more bitter. What I would consider is adding the additional hops late in the boil (spread over the last 15' to flameout and maybe a little dry hop) to increase the hop flavor.

Try to keep the IBUs at about 0.9-1.1 times the OG. For example, if the target OG is 1.055, shoot for 49-60.5 IBU. Since this is an extract kit, it will probably finish with a bit of sweetness, though, so the beer will probably be able to carry more bitterness.

Large hop additions aren't really typical of an EIPA, but you could get a good idea of the flavor of English hops. Just be aware that just throwing a bunch of extra hops into the recipe won't necessarily make the beer better.

What is the current schedule of hop additions? (what times and how much?)

If you wanted, you could add the additional 2 oz of hops in the 5-10 minute window and get a lot more hop flavor and a bit more hop aroma.

Depending on the %aa of the hops, I calculate their recipe to be closer to 30 IBU, than their 17. Adding the additional hops at 10 minutes would bring that to 52 IBU. Adding them at 5 minutes would bring the bitterness to about 43 IBU. The lower number is probably about the right balance for a 1.050 EIPA, but I think you'll be pretty safe with any combination in that range.

Both of these hops are earthy/spicy flavored. The beer should have a very British character. Overdoing these types of hops might lead to a grassy or ice tea-like flavor, but I don't think these numbers should be much of a risk.

Thanks SR! I appreciate the help with all of this, and am now confident that it will turn out quite right. I plan on adding the additional hops in somewhere between the 5 and 10 minutes. I always slip and let things run a little more than intended anyways.

If you want a bit more aroma, which is always nice, it's easier to get good hop aroma from dry hopping than from late hop additions. Dry hopping is pretty traditional for British Pale Ales.

I wouldn't go too crazy on the dry hop (neither too much, nor too long... maybe 0.5-1 oz. for about a week). I find the British hops can get a bit grassy if you go over the top. This will age out, though, so I suppose it's not a huge risk.